The present disclosure relates to a regenerative air-conditioner apparatus and a method of controlling the same.
Air-conditioning apparatuses are apparatuses for cooling or heating an indoor space by heat-exchanging a refrigerant flowing into a heat-exchange cycle with outdoor air.
In detail, such an air-conditioning apparatus includes a compressor for compressing a refrigerant, an outdoor heat exchanger in which the refrigerant exchanges heat with outdoor air, and an indoor heat exchanger in which the refrigerant exchanges heat with indoor air.
The air-conditioning apparatus may include a heat accumulation bath. Thus, this air-conditioning apparatus is called a “regenerative air-conditioning apparatus”. The heat accumulation bath includes a case defining an exterior thereof and a heat storage medium filled into the case. The refrigerant may exchange heat with the heat storage medium while passing through the heat accumulation bath. In this process, heat may be accumulated into the heat storage medium or be radiated from the heat storage medium. Thus, cold (cold energy) or heat may be stored in the heat storage medium.
For example, the air-conditioning apparatus may store cold energy or heat in the heat accumulation bath by using inexpensive midnight electricity. Thus, when an electric fee is expensive, or power is lacking, the air-conditioning apparatus may perform cooling or heating by using the cold energy or heat that is stored in the heat accumulation bath.
According to prior patent document Registration Number 10-1325319, a control method is complicated, and power consumption is high. Also, in the regenerative air-conditioning apparatus according to the prior patent document, it may be difficult to perform a defrosting operation when the heating operation is performed.